Wednesday, May 06, 2009

We've Made Contact

It's been difficult to reach someone in housing as we are on different time schedules. LOL

However, Mike did talk with the housing folks in Misawa again. We had heard a rumor that we could get two apartments...and they'd make a door between them for us. This was a reliable rumor....coming from several places and we had names to contact etc.

It turns out that it WAS the policy. In fact, 6 months ago a family was able to do this...but they have encountered "problems" and so now they absolutely don't do this any longer. They were sorry to tell us this, we were sorry to hear it. The only option would be for us to appeal to the Wing Commander for a waiver. We have this "thing" about moving on base and our first contact with a commander being a whine session. ::snort::

We DO have floor plans now. The biggest is 1585 square feet. It's a 4 bdr, 2 story, 4 plex. It has a small yard....the bedrooms ARE quite small (9 x 9), small enough that we aren't sure the bunk bed with the double mattress will fit and we certainly won't be taking desks.....we are wondering if a 3 bedroom with bigger rooms would work better.... It DID have a small dining room and a small family room - both rooms we didn't expect to have. They also said there are some bigger homes out in the area...so we'll keep praying about where to live...and see what is available when we show up. At least now we "know" the smallest to expect and the layout...because really it isn't about square feet as much as HOW it's laid out.

Back to the planning and sorting...oh WAIT it's time to run to piano lessons.

Choosing Joy!
©2009 D.R.G.

~ Coram Deo ~
Living all of life before the face of God...

14 comments:

Windy said...

Oh, that is disappointing! However, I must say that before arriving in Italy nearly 10 years ago, everyone told us (and, I think, even their cousin would have said) there would be NO large houses available. Everything is SMALL in Europe, they warned. Well, our 1st apartment (we moved 3 times) was huge. I mean, 6 bedroom, huge! Anyway, the next house was also very big and beautiful. So, when you are told that there are larger houses available off base...consider that option!! Besides, what better way to "pick up" Japanese than to have a Japanese landlord?? :)
Looking forward to reading future posts. You're so GOOD at this blog thing!

Renee said...

Based on your children's ages/sexes, you are entitled to 5 bedrooms (how old is Nolan?) SO that means they would have to give you permission to live off-post if you wanted..... assuming you can find something bigger and close enough to post. And assuming that Mike's job doesn't require him to live on post.... now if Mike's job requires him to live on post and if 4br is the biggest they have, then I wouldnt' feel bad about asking for a double unit

Wild Homeschool Family said...

If that does turn out to be your only options the three bedroom might be better if the rooms are bigger. 9'by 9' sounds really small. I guess we could still pray for the double unit to somehow work after all :-) never say never!

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Yep - Windy - we are trying to prepare for the smallest in case we aren't able to find something in July....June being THE month to arrive. ::snort::

We're praying that God puts us right where we need to be...there are advantages to both on and off base.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Renee - they won't make us stay on base...it's just that we might not find anything bigger off base. LOL

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Jodi - "never say never" cracked me up given that we are talking about the military - you are so right. ::snort::

Unknown said...

De'Etta,
We have four children and our house is 1500 sq feet. It's a tight fit but we manage. You do get creative w/ storage, etc. My husband turned a closet into a desk. lol We were able to remove closet doors and put books shelves in another closet. All three boys are in a small bedroom. Clothes were a huge issue for us so we decided to keep their clothes hung up in the basement. This has helped them keep things in order for them.
I'll continue to pray for you guys. The Lord does tend to give us creative ways to solve space issues. lol
Laura J.
PS-Biggest Loser are exercise DVD's.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Laura, cool idea with the closet.

We've lived in homes this size before...but we had a garage and a basement....so storage is the issue that I think will be big....but that is why we're getting rid of 19 years of schooling materials etc. LOL

Renee said...

June is THE month to arrive for AF??? Wow in the Army the majority of folks show up in July....

Many schools (esp up north) end in June, folks take 30 days leave and then PCS to their next assignment in mid-late July.....

Praying that the right house will fall into your laps.

Deja said...

One thing that could be good about all of the rooms like the family room and dining room is that you all will have places to 'go' to in the winter months...even if the rooms are small ones you'll all be able to spread out.

casey said...

We've always struggled with space, too. In one of our smallest homes we had a "bed"room with two sets of bunkbeds and a mattress slid under one of them. It was only for sleeping. Toys, school stuff and bookshelves were in the other bedroom. We've always resorted to the laundry room being the location for all the clean laundry. Saves need for dressers.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Renee - I mean that JUNE is the month when folks are buying homes....and yes that is the case in the areas we've moved...though I expect different overseas. Stateside - folks come AHEAD to look for a home...so the high months to look for military buyers in our area are May/June as most arrive June/July. You know I have learned through our dialogue that the AF and Army are more different than many would think. Many things that were troubles for you with your moves are simply not even issues for ours and vice versa. LOL

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Casey - we did the bed thing here.

We've done the toy/dresser room before and may do that here if we have too...I'd rather keep that room for studies knwoing that it will be crowded in the boys room and Jared will need quiet space for high school studies.

I love the idea of the clothes in the laundry room - we've not been blessed with big enough laundry rooms for shelves, cubbies or dressers...but maybe this time! Well no - come to think of it - they are in a closet in the family room or dining room I think. LOL

Cynthia said...

Just wanted to comment on the laundry room situation. Do you remember how small our utility room is? It's SO SMALL yet we put 4 closet units in there 2 side by side and stacking 2 high and that's where the boys clothes were for the longest time. It was so crowded that we literally couldn't even open the dryer door all the way - only barely enough to squeeze by to toss stuff in (LOL)! Anyway... just wanted to tell you how we did it and it actually worked really well even though it was a teeny tiny area.